1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an electrical plug-in connector with a first housing part, a second housing part and at least one metal interlocking clip which is pivotally mounted on one of the two housing parts, two bearing journals being provided on the first housing part and two interlocking projections being made on the second housing part, the interlocking clip having two interlocking legs and a handle piece which connects the interlocking legs to one another and the interlocking legs each having a bearing arm with a recess for the bearing journal and an interlocking arm for overlapping an interlocking projection. In addition, the invention also relates to an interlocking clip for interlocking of two housing parts, especially two housing parts of an electrical plug-in connector, with two interlocking legs and a handle piece which connects the interlocking legs to one another.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical plug-in connectors of the above mentioned type have been used for many years, especially in industry, and therefore, are often also called industrial plug-in connectors. The plug-in connectors generally have a housing base and a built-on housing as the first housing part and a housing cover or sleeve housing as the second housing part. Within the two housing parts there are generally several terminals which are electrically connected to one another to form a terminal strip, the terminal strips having plug-in contacts or jacks so that when the top part of the housing is slipped onto the bottom part of the housing, the terminals of the top part of the housing are electrically conductively connected to the corresponding terminals of the bottom part of the housing.
Since these industrial plug-in connectors are often used under extremely harsh conditions, the plug-in connectors must meet high tightness requirements, for which the two housing parts must be reliably interlocked with one another even when exposed to strong vibrations and high mechanical load. For this purpose, there must be at least one interlocking clip (often two interlocking clips) pivotally mounted on one of the two housing parts, and in the interlocked position, overlaps two interlocking projections or interlocking pins which are located on the other housing part, by which the two housing parts are held together with one another.
For example, European Patent Application EP 1 691 454 A2 discloses the initially described electrical plug-in connector. In this plug-in connector, the interlocking clip is punched out of a metal sheet in one piece and is bent such that it is made roughly U-shaped. The U-back or base leg of the interlocking clip here forms a handle piece, while the two U-legs are made as interlocking legs or interlocking clamps. The interlocking legs each have a bearing arm with a bearing recess for the articulated pins located on the first housing part and an interlocking arm for overlapping the interlocking pins which are located on the second housing part.
A similar plug-in connector is also disclosed by German Patent Application DE 10 2004 061 046 B4. In this plug-in connector, the interlocking clip is punched out of a metal sheet in one piece and bent. In this interlocking clip, the interlocking arm which overlaps the catch projection in the closed position is made rigid while the bearing arm is made as a spring leg. Because the known interlocking clips are punched out of a metal sheet and bent, production of the interlocking clip is relatively simple, and thus, is also associated only with low costs. However, here, the disadvantage is that punch edges are formed by punching out the interlocking clip and the interlocking projections on the second housing part can be damaged during interlocking as a result.
If the interlocking projections are made of plastic or of a relatively soft material, for example aluminum, when the interlocking clip is pivoted into the closed position, surface wear occurs on the interlocking projection; this can ultimately lead to the interlocking projections being parted. Even if the interlocking projections are made of a harder metal, when the interlocking clip is pivoted into the closed position friction occurs between the two metal parts, specifically between the interlocking projection and the interlocking arm, by which the surface of the two metals parts is involved so that corrosion can form more quickly.